Taxi Driver Online

At a presentation today (10/01/08 ) the President of the Institute of Licensing, Mr James Button, outlined their proposals for a new Taxi Bill.

Alex

A New Taxi Bill

Why New Taxi Law?

Existing law elderly

HC/PH Split confusing and impractical

Law confused in many areas


Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/1

That the vehicle and driver must be safe and suitable for the purpose, and both should be licensed separately.

There should be national minimum standards for both vehicle and driver, but the local authorities should be able to set higher standards if they wish.

Both the vehicle and driver must be inspected/checked regularly.

There should be no limit on the number of vehicle, driver or operator licenses that an authority can grant.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/2

Drivers hours should be regulated.

Different types of vehicle should be licensable - both wheelchair accessible and non wheelchair accessible, together with "specialised" vehicles such as limousines (both stretched and non-stretched) and executive vehicles.

All non-specialised vehicles should be allowed to ply for hire and respond to hailings - perhaps only wheelchair accessible ones can use ranks, but others can park where lawful to park and be approached without the need for any advance bookings.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/3

"Specialised" vehicles could not ply for hire or respond to hailings, but would benefit from less identification and higher fares.

Fares should be regulated for all vehicles up to a maximum that can be charged, but discounts can be offered in any way or situation; specialised vehicles can charge higher fares.

All vehicles should be fitted with calibrated and sealed meters to prevent overcharging.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/4

All vehicles available for hire on the street/public place should be required to take journeys within the district unless there is a reasonable excuse.

All vehicle should be able to travel anywhere in England and Wales at the same maximum fares.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/5

A clean sweep of all legislation regarding the creation of taxi ranks should be made, and all taxi ranks created under a single piece of legislation. This would allow enforcement by local authority parking attendants for non-taxi traffic. Wherever possible, already identified passenger transport locations, such as bus stops, should be designated as part-time taxi ranks, for use when demand is highest, usually after buses have ceased operating.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/6

All vehicles available for hire on the street/public place should be readily identified as such, by means of plates, roof signs, body signs, colours or liveries as the local authority think fit.

Vehicles that are never available for hire on the street/public place (i.e. the "specialised" vehicles) need not be identified as above, but must contain/carry specified information (equivalent at the minimum to plate and driver badge information) which is available for inspection by hirers, police and council officers.

Desirable Requirements for Any Taxi Licensing Regime/7

Licensing districts outside of London should be based upon local authority areas (district councils, metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities, Welsh Counties and County Boroughs) with no subdivision into zones.

Enforcement/policing should be by local authority officers and police constables.

Both the local authority and the CPS should be able to prosecute.

License fees should be set local on the basis of full cost recovery.

Benefits of single tier licensing/1

Simplicity and clarity are the principal benefits to all parties - users, trade and councils.

Every vehicle would be a 'taxi', and could be used in whatever way the owner/driver wished - standing or plying for hire or pre-booking. The question is whether that could be achieved, whilst maintaining public safety and also protecting those involved in the industry from unlicensed competition.

The existing problems of enforcement seen to favour one part of trade over another would disappear.

Benefits of single tier licensing/2

The public would know that any licensed and externally identified vehicle could be used safely and lawfully to transport them in any situation.

Benefits of single tier licensing/3

Overall it would be surprising if any new legislation increased significantly the number of vehicle in use. At present, where HC numbers are not limited, HC and PHV use market forces to determine the number of vehicles that can be supported by the demand for their services. Single tier licensing would encompass all existing vehicles, so the number should stay roughly the same. In areas where HC numbers are limited, PHVs tend to be more numerous, but again, the combination of both types of vehicle provides the service demanded by the public. Single tier licensing would therefore seem to have no more impact on overall vehicle numbers than in non-limited areas above.

Benefits of single tier licensing/4

Problems over insurance for a particular class of vehicle (public hire/private hire) would be eliminated.

Benefits of single tier licensing/5

A wide range of vehicles would still be available for use. It is acknowledged that many disabled people who are not wheelchair bound prefer saloon vehicles to purpose built vehicles, and these would continue to be available from the street or by pre booking. Equally, a large number of wheelchair accessible vehicles would be available as the incentive to provide one would be that ranks could be used. There would be equal or greater business opportunities by allowing multi-type vehicle fleets in areas where numbers are curently restricted. The public would receive an equal or greater choice of vehicle than is currently available.

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ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

Simply the best taxi forum in the whole wide world. www.taxi-driver.co.uk

How this will work is beyond me if drivers hours are limited how do we make a living




good idea and set at the middle of the present fare league, thats in taxi and PH monthly, some may have to take a cut and others gain a rise

I think that proposal is meant to eradicate the drivers that charge crazy prices for out-of-town work, rather than set a single fare for the country.

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IDFIMH

FFS don't mention WAV only ranks to JD.

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IDFIMH

Your right Sussex that last lot of pills is only starting to have an effect on him after the last PH fiasco



No quite definitely one price for all
I think the idea behind it is so that no matter where you get your cab or PH from they will all be the same price for any given miles traveled

How much weight do these proposals carry?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

have a look http://www.instituteoflicensing.org/

Nice website but that doesn't answer my question. Are the powers that be going to take any notice or is it just so much hot air?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

They are a government body in charge of all licencing so the councils will have to sit up and take notice if its implemented

They are a major stake-holder and have many members in positions of authority in councils.

They also have high level contact with the folks that draft laws, and many people in the Institute who know what they are doing.

But it's MPs who make law, and I think that's their biggest obstacle, as I'm not so sure sorting out our mess is their highest priority.

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IDFIMH

And these would be improvements?

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Former taxi driver

From my own opinion I think there is a great deal of work to be done on these proposals before they become workable and acceptable but at least it’s a step towards a new act, or is it? I just wonder who was or wasn't consulted before these proposals were published.

The first thing the report should have said is that licensing of Taxis should be taken out of local council control and placed in the hands of local Traffic Commissioners under a specialised taxi unit. I could go on and on but don't have the time but I won't leave there.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

There are a few things that need to be implemented and the first is as JD says let the traffic commissioner set the rate for licencing, at the moment operators fee's range from anywhere from £100 to £,1500 possibly more,
and just goes to show that any council that charges more than £100 is ripping you off. and its only £35 for a bus
All licence plates cannot be sold and must be returned to the issuing council for reissue
All drivers licences should run for 5 years at a cost of no more than £80 and that will include an enhanced CRC this would only be required to be done once as the council could easily check with the police for any other convictions
All councils that restrict taxi numbers must stop this practice imediently
All taxi ranks will have signage informing the public where to Que and that they must take the first taxi from that rank
All vehicles to be licenced must not be any more than 3 years old when first licenced, with testing every 6 months after the 5th year, and must be replaced at 10 years from first registration,
Abolish the turning circle requirement as there in now only one manufacturer who provides this and this leads to potential owners having to pay an excessive premium to buy one
All meters to be set at the same rate nationwide so that no matter where you get your cab from or how far you go, the price will be the same
for example if you get a cab in York and go 2 miles the fare would be £5.00 the same would apply in London
All taxi owners should be able to get a fuel duty rebate to keep costs down and to bring us into line with the buss-es and other public transport.
This could be done with a card that is used at any filling station through a payment terminal, and to stop misuse all cards will have the photo of the driver included
All PH must have meters fitted and calibrated to the same rate as taxis, but they can only have the letters PH on there top sign.

[img][img]http://www.instituteoflicensing.org/IMAGES/JTHB%20headshot.JPG[/img][/img]

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

You do seem hung up on age restrictions, skippy. My current hack is a 1999 WAV VW Sharan. I put it on last year. I bought it with 30k miles on the clock, 1 previous (disabled) owner and a full VW service history. It was immaculate. The hack inspector said it was the best second hand one he had seen - better than some that were 2 or 3 years old. Age isn't important if your vehicles are examined to a decent standard.
Quality is far more important than age.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/